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Gang rape of tribal woman, 3 held

Police have arrested all three accused in the rape case of a tribal woman.

Though the victim, in her first statement, had mentioned the number of accused as four, police investigation found only three persons were involved in the offence.

Police have charged all the three accused for gang rape, murder attempt, voluntarily cause grievous hurt, atrocities against scheduled tribe person and other sections of the Indian penal code. "The woman had suffered grievous injuries and it was because of sheer luck that she was saved," said Jaison K Abraham, deputy superintendent of police, Thamarassery. A police team led by the DSP investigated the case.

Those arrested by the police are K Sulfikker (35), Koonthalam Theru Shameer (35), T K Ashraf alias Manthal Ashraf (42). While the first accused was arrested on Wednesday from Balussery, second and third accused were arrested on Thursday.

All the accused were produced before judicial first class magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. It was on Monday that a 42-year-old tribal woman was found abandoned on the road side at Nooramthodu near Adivaram in Thamarassery. A group of local residents found the woman lying on the road side on Monday.

The woman was first taken to the taluk hospital and was later admitted to Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital for treatment.

Police netted the accused following a tip off that Sulfikker sought treatment at a private hospital at Balussery. Later, police arrested the other two after interrogating Sulfikker. The woman had suffered injuries on her lips, left eye and right hand and is recovering at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

According to officials, it was Sulfikker who took the woman out of her house to the forest near Adivaram. The other two joined him in attacking the woman, said an official.

The victim had named Manthal Ashraf in her statement to the police which helped the police proceed with their investigation. The woman, who was in a traumatic condition, was not able to recollect the number of accused properly as the offence occurred in the night.